Seeds of Care​

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{curatorial project} [online workshop, publication, community engagement and resource]

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Seeds of Care was a series of 4 art workshops held in groups of 6 to 8 people, repeated over the 4 weeks of May 2021. It was curated to address the concerns of the current times (during the devastating second wave of COVID 19 in India). Engaging and intimate, these sessions held space for sharing and vulnerability, fostering solidarity. The series culminated in the development of a publication as a resource for care. 

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In the isolating times of the pandemic, Seeds of Care aimed at bringing people together from the confines of their homes towards a collective catharsis and healing. The workshops were designed and executed from a mental health perspective, wherein participants discussed care through different themes, cared for one another and themselves, and created a resource for care through conservations and sharing resources. 

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The series of art workshops were designed to help participants connect better with themselves and their surroundings. We explored creative techniques to practice mindfulness and build resilience towards the unprecedented difficulties of our time. Over the 4 days we built solidarity through delving into the themes of fear, home, food and nature. Together, we created a safe space for conversations and vulnerabilities to exist. 

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Through Seeds of Care, research with the community of participants in the workshop format was focused around ideas of care in the context of the pandemic and creating resources for care in the form of a publication. Art was used as a tool through which ideas are discussed or articulated in facilitating the process of research as well as caring for people. This project was hence also a reflection on the processes of developing a caring curatorial practice.

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Seeds of Care was inclusive of participants with disabilities. The project was carried out in collaboration with Ashmi Mridul, a multimedia artist based in India.

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Below: The workshop poster and more glimpses from the workshop shared below, along with the publication Seeds of Care: Resources and Recipes for Self-Care which was created as a compilation of the resources shared by the participants during the workshop sessions. The publication also contains some outcomes from the activities participants engaged in during the sessions.